Olefins (alkenes) are versatile raw materials in organic synthesis, polymerization, and chemical processes, but they are not as widely available naturally as alkanes. Given the abundance of saturated hydrocarbon or alkanes in nature, dehydrogenation of alkanes provides a sustainable production of alkenes. This approach eliminates significant amount of waste generated from alternate multi-step chemical methods that are used to produce these olefins.
Different dehydrogenation methods have been developed. Traditional methods involve use of stoichiometric amounts of halogenated reagents and/or precious metals thus generating a lot of waste. Alternate one-step catalytic methods have been developed, but productivity and selectivity remains to be an issue especially when multiple regio-isomers can be formed in the dehydrogenation process. Especially in the case of higher alkanes, low selectivity and conversion often severely limit the utility of dehydrogenation.
Accordingly, there remains a need for green dehydrogenation methods that can produce high yield and great selectivity via engineering and catalytic methods. In one aspect, the present disclosure provides inventions aiming to meet such needs.